Safety device for firearms



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed-Sept. 11. 1930 ZCZLM Q lifts-92f),

Aug. 11, 1931. J. NICKL I SAFETY DEVICE FOR FIREARMS Filed Sept. 11,1930 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 iffamf Patented Aug. 11, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE JOSEF NIGKL, OF OBERNDORF, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO MAU SER-WER-KE A.G., OF'

OBERNDURF, A. N., GERMANY, A JOINT-STOCK COMPANY OF GERMANY SAFETYDEVICE FOR FIREARMS Application filed September 11, 1930, Serial No.481,257, and in Germany September 24, 1929.

/My invention relates generally to safety devices for firearms and moreespecially to firearms having a hammer adapted to be cocked and lockedin cocked position by means of a sear.

The chief object of my invention is to provide a safety mechanism whichshould be not only practical, eflicient, simple in construction andperfectly safe in use, but should also 10 be less liable to get out oforder than firearms or safety devices in connection therewith which areof more complicated'construction such as hitherto produced or designed.3

With this object in view I provide a safety lever constructed andadapted to allow of cockingthe hammer even if the firearm has been putsafe, the said lever having as extension adapted to project into thepath of 15220 the hammer so as to intercept the forward flyinghammervwhen the trigger is operated, and prevent the same from hittingthe firing pm.

A mechanism of this type will entail the Z32 advantage that when thefirearm is put safe the cooked hammer may be released and uncooked byputting the trigger just as for purposes of firing a shot without,however, thereby causing the firing pin to be struck by the 0.530hammer. Consequently it can never happen that a shot will be firedunintentionally in case of slipping of the hammer during the cocking oruncocking operation as sometimes will occur in winter time when thehands are cold.

lVhen the safety lever occupies the one or the other of its two endpositions, the sear will not be locked due to a particular guiding meansprovided on thelever, but when the latter occupies its intermediateposition, the said guiding means will lock the sear.

In such a case the firearm is safe and may be unloaded by retracting thebreech and subsequently allowing the same to fly forward, the triggermechanism and consequently also the hammer being locked at the time.

The herein mentioned guiding means of the safety lever comprises aradial recess provided in the lateral wall or surface of the lever andwhereof the median portion, is

curved or concentric to or about the pivotal axis of the safety lever,so as to be adapted to pass or slide over a lug of the sear and lock thesame, while the two end portions of said recess corresponding to the twoend positions of the lever, are enlarged for the purpose of releasingthesear. The aforesaid extension of the safety lever which, when thefirearm is safe, will act to intercept and lock the hammer,'is shaped toform a lug or nose adapated to be moved into the path of the hammer andto engage with a lateral abutting surface provided on the hammer in theneighbourhood of the pivot thereof,.prior to the engagement of thehammer with the firing pin, that is to say, for the purpose ofpreventing the hammer from hitting the firing pin or firing a shot.

As in a firearm of the herein described type the safety lever can occupythree important positionsof various times, it is necessary and advisableto provide means which will clearly indicate the relative position ofthe'lever at any particular time and it is another object of myinvention to provide such means in connection with the particu-' larsafety mechanism herein described. To this end and with this object inview I provide on the safety lever two marks of different colors adaptedto be masked and whereof the one is visible when the firearm is in safecondition and the other one is" visible when the firmarm is in firingcondition or not safe. At the intermediate position of the safety lever,that is to say, the position for-unloading the firearm, both marks arevisible. The safety lever is so shaped and mounted and the two marks areprovided thereon at such places that at the one end position of thelever the one mark will be masked and concealed behind a projecting partor member of the rear barrel extension and in the-other end position ofthe lever the other mark will be masked and concealed behind the sidewall of the handle frame. The two marks in themselves may be shaped toform shallow bores in the safety lever and the one bore or shallow cupmay be filled or coated with red paint while t e Other one may be givena white color.

Thus upon glancing an eye on the firearm it will at once be seen whetherthe same is safe or ready for firing a shot or in readiness forunloading.

)Vith the above recited and ancillary objects in view, reference is hadto the following specification and annexed drawings in which there isexhibited one example or embodiment of the invention which is in no wayintended as a limitation upon the scope of the subjoined claims as it isto be clearly understood that variations and modifications which fairlyfall within the true scope of said claims may beresorted to when foundexpedient.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification andshowing, for purposes of exemplification, a preferred form and manner inwhich the invention may be embodied and practised, but without limitingthe claimed invention to such illustrative instance:

Figure 1 shows in elevation a pistol provided with the improved safetymechanism, the parts being illustrated in position ready for unloading;Figure 2 shows in elevation, partly in section, the parts with thehammer in full cock position and the safety lever in inoperativeposition; Figure 3 is a similar view showing the parts with the hammerin half-cock position and the safety lever in safe position; Figure a is-a similar view illustrating the parts with the hammer lowered upon thefiring pin (not shown) and the safety lever in inoperative position;Figure 5 shows in elevation the sear partly broken off Figure 6 is asimilar view of the safety lever; Figure 7 is a fragmentary illustrationof the pistol with the safety lever in operative or safe position andFigure 8 is a similar view showing the safety lever in inoperativeposition and in readiness for firing.

Parts which are repeated in the several figures will bear the samereference characters in each case.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4 and 6 in one side surface of the safetylever a there is provided a radial recess 5 whereof the median portionis situated or defined concentrically to the axis of rotation r of thelever while the two end portions thereof are extended to formenlargements c and cl. A lateral projection of the lever is shaped toform a nose 6, while the rear end thereof is shaped to form a knurledhead m. On the left-hand side or surface of the lever, taken in thedirection from the handle towards the muzzle of the barrel, two shallowbores 0 and p are provided, the bore 0 being filled or coated with redpaint and the bore 2? with white paint or color. Just as the position ofthe lever a may be, the red bore or mark 0 will be masked and concealedbehind the wall member Q of the rear barrel extension, see Figure 7 orthe white bore or mark p will be masked and concealed behind the sidewall n of the handle frame, see Figure 8, but both bores or marks arevisible, when the lever occupies an intermediate position correspondingto the operation of unloading the pistol, as will be seen in Figure 1.

The lower end of the hammer is provided with a lateral recess 9extending to form a straight surface it occupying an inclined positionrelatively to the body or grip of the hammer and adapted to co-operatewith the aforementioned nose 6 of the lever 11. The rear extremity ofthe sear i which as usually serves to lock the hammer in cockedposition, is shaped to form a lug having an upward projecting nose 7:,see Figure 5. When the safety lever is moved to turn, the curved medianportion of the recess Z) of the lever a will slide and pass over thenose is.

The safety lever a occupies a position which comes nearest to verticalposition, as will be seen in Figures 3 and 7 when the pistol is safe, sthat the enlargement of the recess 6 will lie in front of the nose is ofthe sear 2' and the latter is free to turn about its pivot, so that thehammer can be cocked and the trigger be operated in the usual manner.Consequently with the operating of putting the lever a in safe positionthe nose 6 thereof enters into the path of the hammer f and the red mark0 is concealed behind the member 9. Now if the trigger is operated tocause the cooked hammer to fly forward, the surface it of the recess gof the hammer will strike upon the nose 6 and Will thereby be preventedfrom striking upon the firing pin. Thus it will be seen that when thesafety lever a occu v pics the safe position shown in Figures 3 and 7,the trigger may be operated to unlock the hammer without firing a shot.

In the intermediate position of the safety lever a shown in Figure l thenose is of the sear i lies immediately opposite the edge formed by therecess 3) so as to prevent the sear from being moved for the purpose ofreleasing the hammer. In this position of the lever a both the red mark0 and the white mark 39 are visible and the pistol may be unloaded byretracting the breech (not shown) and allowing the same to fly forwardwh ch may be repeated as many times as required for the ejection of allcartridges until the breech bolt (not shown) will remain fixed in itsrearmost position. The trigger thus will be in locked condition and,therefore, the hammer may be released to fly forward without firing ashot. v I

Is the pistol in the condition for firing a shot with the parts inposition as shown in Figures 2 and 8, and with the safety lever turnedto occupy a substantially horizontal position with the white mark pconcealed and the red mark 0 visible, a recessed face of the nose 6 ofthe lever a will occupy a position parallel to the straight surface itof the lateral recess 9 of the hammer 7. As the said face lies muchdeeper relatively to the nose face of the lever, the former cannot comein contact with the surface it of the hammer, so that the hammer can bereleased from engagement with the sear, by pressure upon the trigger,and can strike upon the firing pin to efiect the discharge of acartridge. In the position of the parts shown in Figures 2 and 8 thesear is unimpeded and adapted to move freely owing to the enlargement 0of the recess b of the safety lever a.

From the foregoing description it is be lieved, that the advantages andnovel features of my invention will be readily understood and,therefore, further detail description is deemed unnecessary.

What I claim is 1. In a firearm, the combination with a hammer and asear, of a safety lever having means for guiding the said sear so as toallow of cooking the hammer even when the firearm is in safe conditionand means for locking the hammer when released to fly forward, prior tostriking upon the firing p111.

2. A firearm as claimed in claim 1, where in the means for guiding thesear operates to release the sear when the safety lever occupies one orthe other of its two end positions, and to lock the sear when the leveroccupies an intermediate position.

3. A firearm as claimed in claim 1, wherein the guiding means comprise aradial recess in the safety lever, the said recess having a mediancurved portion adapted to pass by a nose of the sear and lock the same,while the two end portions of said recess corresponding to the two endpositions of the safety lever are enlarged to not interfere with thesear.

4:. A firearm as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for locking theforward flying hammer, when the firearm is in safe condition, comprisesa nose adapted to be moved into the path of the hammer and to come incontact with a lateral engaging surface of the hammer so as to catch thelatter and prevent the same from striking upon the firing 1n. P 5. Afirearm as claimed in claim 1 wherein two marks of different colors areprovided on the safety lever, the one mark being visible when thefirearm is put safe and the other mark being visible when the firearm isin readiness for firing a shot.

6. A firearm as claimed in claim 1 wherein two marks of different colorsare provided on the safety lever, the one mark 9 being visible when thefirearm is put safe and the other mark being visible when the firearm isin readiness for firing a shot, which both marks are visible when thesafety lever is set to occupy an intermediate position for unloadingpurposes.

7. A firearm as claimed in claim 1 where- I in two marks of differentcolors are provided on the safety lever, the one mark being visible whenthe firearm is put safe and the other mark being visible when thefirearm is in readiness for firing a shot, the one mark being adapted tobe masked and concealed behind a member of the rear barrel extension andthe other mark being adapted to be masked and concealed behind the oneside wall of the handle frame.

8. A firearm as claimed in claim 1, wherein two shallow bores areprovided on one side face of the safety lever to form two marks, the onebore filled or coaled with white paint, being visible when the firearmis put safe and the other 'bore filled or coaled with red paint, beingvisible when the firearm is in readiness for firing a shot.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

J. NICKL.

